


Nothing Makes Sense

by heretoday898



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-16 21:27:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4640790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heretoday898/pseuds/heretoday898
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katniss is transported to an alternate universe where she runs into another archer who works with a group of superheroes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this happened...
> 
> All mistakes are my own and I do not own these characters

“Beetee, what are you doing?” Katniss screamed, sprinting towards the Victor from District 3.

Katniss looked up in horror as the lightning struck the tree, catapulting Beetee into the side of the dome.  Legs pumping, Katniss skidded to a halt and crouched down next to the unconscious genius.  The man was holding a box made up of a mess of wires.  One wire was in his dark hand, clearly out of place.  The contraption didn’t make any sense, Beetee was going to electrocute the other Victors, not make some sort of bomb, if it even was a bomb.  Katniss looked around, maybe Beetee meant to blow up the wall of the arena.  A low rumble and the static coursing through the air made Katniss look up, the lightning was gathering again.  Hearing a rustle in the nearby trees, Katniss dropped and box and whipped an arrow out, notching it.  Finnick was standing, hands raised at the other end of the small clearing.

“Katniss, remember who the real enemy is,” Finnick pleaded, teal eyes imploring her to lower her bow.

Katniss let out a shuddering breath before returning the arrow to the quiver and shouldering her bow.  With a final nod towards Finnick, she bent down and picked up the box, pushing the last wire into its slot.  The wind picked up as she heard Finnick screaming behind her.  Katniss hurled the box at the arena boundary just as the lightning struck the tree, coursing through the branches and connecting to the wires of the box.  Katniss’ eyes widened as she flung her hands in front of her face, protecting herself from the searing white light that erupted from the lightning powered box.  She distantly heard Finnick grunt and a loud smack before she stopped hearing all together.  Instead she felt weightless, drifting in blinding light and deafening silence before a sharp pull sent her hurdling downwards.  Katniss landed, or it felt like she landed, as her sharp grey eyes adjusted to the lack of intense light and her new surroundings.  She quickly reached for her bow and an arrow, even though she was half-blind, still, she didn’t want to be defenseless.

Grey eyes adjusting, Katniss came face to face with the tip of an arrow.  Katniss’ eyes followed the arrow shaft up to a bow which had a design she had never seen before.  It was utilitarian but far more lethal than anything she had ever come across.  The man holding the bow could be described exactly as said bow.  His compact body and hawk like eyes the only thing giving him away as a threat, if one didn’t have an arrow pointed at their face.

Katniss watched as keen blue eyes traveled over her bloody and disheveled form, the man’s body tensing further.  Katniss took the time to study the man as well without lowering her bow and guard.  He was dressed in black combat boots and matching pants, in fact, his whole outfit was black minus the bit of purple on his chest.  Katniss was brought out of her study by the quiet sound of a voice coming from the man’s ear, it had sounded like someone had said “hawkeye.”  The man’s blue eyes flickered up and met hers before he spoke to the voice.

“Give me a minute,” the man’s smooth voice cut through the silence surrounding them.

A male voice cut through the speaker in the archer’s ear, “no Barton, JARVIS just picked up an unknown energy signal from your location, what’s going on?” the other voice demanded.

“Well Stark, there was a bright light but sadly no tunnel, instead I have a bloody, gaunt, angry girl staring me down and seeing as this is the stealth part of the mission you should probably shut up and let me deal with it,” the man, Barton, drawled before lowering his bow to reach up and click off his ear piece.

Katniss eyed the man warily as he brought his bow back up, once again pointing it at her head.

“Do you speak English, uh, or understand what I am saying?” Barton asked in a hushed voice.

“Yes,” Katniss answered after a tense moment of weighing her options.  This man was the only person right now who could give her answers.

“Alright, good.  You got a name?” Barton spoke while glancing at their surroundings.

Katniss finally realized what he must have meant when he said stealth mission to the voice in his ear piece.  Her body instantly pulled taut as she scanned her surroundings more closely, the forest was quiet, far too quiet and it had nothing to do with them.

****

Clint watched the whipcord thin girl in front of him stiffen further as her solemn grey eyes took in the surrounding forest.  Clint was suitably impressed with the girl’s nerve and steady bow arm.  He was a little unnerved by the amount of blood on the girl and her clearly rawboned form.  Natasha would be scolding him for being more concerned about the girl’s health than where she came from.  Not that he wasn’t curious about how she got here, but frankly she looked like she was running on fumes and adrenaline and Clint just wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to shoot him.  The desperate, haunted look in her eyes didn’t affect him at all, not even a little.

“Hawkeye,” Clint said, getting tired of waiting for the girl to answer him.  He quickly glanced around again, he would have to move soon.

“It’s Barton too,” the dark haired girl commented, eyeing him warily, waiting for his denial.  Clint grinned, he liked that she was listening in on the conversation over the comm link.

“That would be my last name, Hawkeye’s my codename and seeing as we are in a potential dangerous situation, codenames are preferable,” Clint quirked an eyebrow at the girl as her eyes widened and darted around.

Clint sighed and motioned for the girl to be silent, which didn’t seem like it would be a problem.  The hero scanned the forest and noticed a subtle movement to their south.  It looked to be a group of Hydra soldiers, Clint cursed under his breath and looked back at the girl.  She had followed his line of sight, brows furrowed as she took in the soldiers.

“You got my six?” Clint smirked at the girl, trying to ease the tension.  Clint masked his surprise as the girl’s unsmiling grey eyes met his and she gave a decisive nod of her head, angling her body to watch his six.

“Okay then,” Clint nodded back, reaching up to turn his comm back on.

“We’ve got about twenty Hydra soldiers a klick south of our location right now, shouldn’t be a problem for us,” Clint spoke into the comm, grimacing as he heard Cap, Nat, and Stark all shout at once.

“Who’s ‘we’ Barton?” Cap’s voice broke through, tone laced tight with authority.

“Oh, you know, just me and my new friend who came through the portal,” Clint winced, trying to keep his tone light.  The girl cracked a grin as his comm lit up with curses and warnings.

“Relax guys and Nat, I’m not going to let her kill me,” Clint aimed for reassuring but it just came out sarcastic.

“Now shut it, we’ve got work to do.  Wait for the all clear then move in,”  Clint snapped, back to business as they approached the Hydra soldiers.

Clint turned to look over his shoulder at the girl and came up empty.  Startled, he quickly scanned the area on to notice her crouched on a branch, staring at him with an arched eyebrow and notched arrow pointed at the Hydra soldiers.  He didn’t even hear her move, let alone climb the tree.  Clint was liking this girl more and more.  Standing stock still behind a tree trunk, Clint notched an arrow with explosives in the tip before taking a breath, turning and releasing the arrow towards the right flank of the group effectively incapacitating the soldiers.  The girl took this as her signal to release a volley of arrows, each one hitting its target with deadly accuracy.  Clint let loose two more arrows with explosives to the left and center of the soldiers formation, or what little remained of the formation, neutralizing the threat.  

“Move Cap, go get your boy,” Barton spoke into the comm getting an affirmative answer back.  Clint looked up in time to see the girl gracefully shimmy down from her perch in the tree and turn towards him.

“Mockingjay,” she said quietly after a moment of silence, staring at the smoking remains of the soldiers.

“”Mockingjay, I like it.  that was some nice shooting by the way,” Clint beamed, trying to coax the girl into saying more.

“It was alright,” her thin shoulder gave a dismissive shrug.

“Better than alright, who taught you?” Clint nodded encouragingly.

“My dad,” the girl muttered, shadows casting over her face, eyes grave.

“Did he teach you how to kill too?” Clint knew it was unfair, especially when the girl’s head snapped up, eyes flaring dangerously with a combination of rage and guilt.  

Clint did not regret asking the question, the emotional response told him enough about the girl, her guilt told him she deserved to be saved.  They stood staring at each other in stony silence before Clint turned and started heading toward the rendezvous point.  He felt the slight displacement of air, but heard no sound as the girl silently moved to walk next to him.

“Katniss Everdeen,” She said after about two hours of trekking in silence, “my name is Katniss Everdeen.”

“Clint Barton,” he smiled at the girl, at Katniss.

****

They made is to a large clearing at the edge of a cliff as the sun was beginning to set.  The archer, Clint, stopping by the ledge and taking a sip of water from a pouch attached to his back.

“Shouldn’t be too long now, half hour tops,” he spoke, motioning to his water skin with a raised brow.

Katniss nodded, accepting the water.  She hadn’t had anything to drink, or eat, for that matter since she had met up with Johanna, Beetee, and Wiress.  Katniss gratefully drank the water, the pains of the days finally catching up with her.  Her suit which had seen better days and was currently scorched and covered in blood was not designed for the cool forest environment she currently found herself in.  She handed the water pouch back to Clint with a thankful nod, grimacing as her stomach growled.  Clint grinned at her, whipping out a small rectangular package and tossing it to her.  The package said “protein bar”, which didn’t make an ounce of sense to Katniss.  Clint had another one in his hand, already opened and chewing on it.  Katniss wanted to eat it, but she didn’t know what it was and it was a glaring reminder that she didn’t know where she was.  Her stomach protested loudly as she tossed it back to Clint.  He looked at her critically, causing Katniss to tense, before he shrugged and pocketed the protein bar.

A low, deep thrum filled the air as an aircraft came into view and touched down in the clearing.  A ramp dropped down and Katniss watched as Clint made his way over to the aircraft, glancing back at her.  She was standing frozen, bow drawn and an arrow halfway out of its quiver as she took in the ramp leading to a dark interior.

“Look, you clearly don’t know where you are and how you got here.  You’re hungry, hurt, and I’m guessing dead on your feet, we can help.  I can help,” Clint called back to her, his body relaxed and unthreatening.

Katniss’ mind screamed for her to turn, run back into the woods, into what she knew she could survive.  Her body, however, lurched forward to the promise of food and rest.  Clint gave her a half smile as she staggered up the ramp into the grey interior of the aircraft.  Five curious faces met her, well they were all curious but also extremely wary and tense.  The sixth face was hidden behind long, scraggy dark hair and if possible tensed even further upon her entrance.  

“Sit down, get ready for take off,” the red haired woman spoke, her calm, neutral tone raising the hairs on Katniss’ arms.

Katniss took the farthest seat away from the others and clicked the safety belt around her shoulders, quiver still attached to her back and bow in hands.  

  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating last week, I will be changing my update day but I don't know to what day yet. Anyway, here's two chapters enjoy!
> 
> All mistakes are my own and I do not own these characters.

 

Katniss’ stomach clenched in fear with the uncomfortable added hint of hunger that she was desperately trying to ignore.  The aircraft’s estimated time of arrival was three hours, not that it made much difference to her seeing as how she had no idea where they were going.  Katniss tucked her head into her chest as her eyes apprehensively took in the bodies sitting towards the front of the aircraft.  Their faces were weary and set in grim lines, well all except Clint who just seemed tired.  

There was a large man with long blonde hair who had laugh lines around his blue eyes.  It wasn’t his muscled physique or attractive facial features that captured Katniss’ attention though, it was the massive hammer and elaborate armour complete with red cape.  It seemed like an outfit one would wear to the Tribute Parade.  The small, dark haired man sitting next to him looked exhausted, made more so by the fact that he was listing to the side, pale sweaty face coming in contact with the huge bicep of the blonde cape man.  Katniss silently cringed at the dull thump of contact, while the blonde shifted to accomodate the dark haired man.  

Clint was quietly speaking with the red haired woman, only giving Katniss a glimpse of her profile.  She was stunning from what Katniss could see but more than that she was controlled, everything about her screamed discipline.  The other two men were deep in conversation.  The blonde was clean shaven with a sharp jaw line and wearing a blue and red militaristic outfit, he was holding a matching helmet in his hand and a massive circular shield was strapped to his back.  His companion was dark haired with facial hair that reminded Katniss of a tamer version of Seneca Crane’s facial hair.  Katniss examined the man’s complex red and gold metal suit which encompassed his entire body.  It was immense and sleek, something she had never seen before with a blue light radiating from its center.  Katniss was confused and slightly curious, when she got past her suffocating fear.

Turning grey eyes to the last man, Katniss almost physically startled, he was handcuffed to the seat.  She eyed him more closely and noticed the man was more elaborately secured to the seat as well, with multiple straps crisscrossing his torso.  The dark haired man didn’t seem afraid or angry, just resigned.  It was in the way his shoulders caved forward with his hands hanging limply, deflated with nowhere to go.  As if he could feel her eyes on him, the man raised his head slightly, crystalline blue eyes meeting stormy grey.  Katniss was so captivated she missed the silence descend on the cabin of the aircraft.  The blue eyes were fierce in their torment as they stared through Katniss before shifting away back down to his limp hands.  Katniss tore her eyes away from the man as she subconsciously glanced around the aircraft, fists clenching as she noticed the eyes on them.  Clint casually made his way over to her, slouching down in the opposite seat, eyes studying Katniss.

“Natasha Romanov, Black Widow,” Clint said with a flick of his hand, indicating to the red headed woman flying the aircraft.

“Steve Rogers or Captain America and Tony Stark, Iron Man,” he continued pointing to the blonde in the military suit and the man in the metal suit who were speaking in hushed urgent voices again.

“Dr. Bruce Banner whose alter ego is the Hulk,” Clint nodded with a smirk to the sleeping man next to the blonde behemoth.

“And Thor who just goes by Thor,” Clint finished throwing a smile in the direction of the muscle bound blonde who returned it with a bright grin of his own.

“And your captive?” Katniss’ gaze returned to Clint, steel grey eyes steady as she waited for the archer to acknowledge the chained man.

“he’s not a captive,” the military man, Steve Rogers, snapped as he made his way over to them.

“Easy Cap, she doesn’t know any better,” Clint spoke up, trying to prevent a fight.

“Then why is he locked up?” Katniss challenged, growing irritated.

“So he doesn’t hurt anyone, including himself,” Steve Rogers whispered, a look of agonized longing crossing his handsome features.

****

Clint watched the girl’s stoic face take in Cap’s words, her eyes the only indication she even felt something.  Clint was suddenly struck by the thought that they were lucky this girl did not get picked up by Hydra when she appeared here.  Hydra wouldn’t need the Winter Soldier back, they could just make a new one, one who had no ties to this world, no one to come looking for her.

“James Buchanan Barnes,” Clint said, wanting to break the tension between Katniss and Steve.

“He’s Captain Rogers’ best friend, who up until today was in the hands of brainwashing ex-Nazi terrorists and being used as their greatest weapon,” Clint finished with an apologetic smile directed towards Steve.

Clint watched as Katniss processed the new information, her grey eyes sharpening as she took in Barnes’ prone form and Cap’s protective stance.  Clint had to hand it to the girl, she was tough, a thorny exterior surrounding a steel resolve.  Clint looked down studying Katniss’ bow, eyes skimming over her clenched hands.  The bow was simplistic, for all that it was gold.  Clint was impressed that the girl has as good of accuracy she displayed against the Hydra soldiers using such a bow, it spoke volumes of her skill.

“Steve Rogers,” Clint heard Cap introduce himself, bringing the archer out of his study.

Clint looked at Katniss who was steadily gazing back at Rogers, mouth firmly shut.  Clint groaned, knowing a stubborn streak when he saw one and not looking forward to the girl bringing out Cap’s pig headedness.  Clint was saved by a small chuckle, well more like a gruff snort, coming from Barnes.  Cap’s head whipped around, blue eyes wide and hopeful as he stared at his best friend.  CLint glanced around noticing the eyes of the rest of the team all firmly rested on Steve and Barnes, even Banner who had picked his head up off Thor’s shoulder.

“Buck,” Steve whispered, taking a hesitant step closer.  Barnes was looking back at Steve, eyes wide and fearful as he shrunk back into himself.

“Katniss Everdeen,” the girl’s voice blurted out into the silence, everyone’s eyes snapping away from Barnes, landing on her.

“That’s my name, Katniss,” she addressed Steve, eyes flickering between him and Barnes before shooting Clint a nervous look.

Clint gave her an encouraging smile, thankful she brought the attention away from the resident super soldiers.

“I’m from the Seam which is part of District 12 in Panem,” Katniss spoke, visibly swallowing.

“It’s nice to meet you Katniss,” Steve gave a reassuring smile which seemed to do the complete opposite of what it intended.

If possible, Katniss tensed further, grey eyes suspicious causing Cap’s smile to falter.  

“You don’t know me.  All you see is a girl covered in blood with a weapon, who isn’t from this world, you cannot possibly say that it is nice to meet me.” Katniss sneered, voice breaking and bordering on panic.  

Clint took a step towards the girl who flinched violently away from him, getting caught in the straps anchoring her to the seat.  Her breathing became shallow and erratic as she yanked on the straps before clumsily reaching into her quiver and pulling out a knife, slashing through the straps on her shoulders and careening forward, bow and knife clattering to the floor.  Clint dove to his knees in front of her, grabbing Katniss’ shoulders.  Clint looked across the cabin and met Banner’s eyes, the doctor jumping to action as he grabbed a sedative and tossed it to Clint.

“I’m sorry,” Clint whispered as he plunged the needle into Katniss’ thigh.

“No, please don’t,” he heard her plead, alarmed grey eyes slipping shut as the sedative kicked in.

The silence was deafening as Clint held the unconscious girl in his arms, feeling her steady heartbeat.

“Well, I was not expecting we’d have to use the sedative on Clint’s new girl,” Stark piped up, breaking the uncomfortable silence.  Clint and Steve glared at the genius while Banner shook his head in exasperation.      

“If we are all done with the theatrics, we will be landing on the helicarrier in ten minutes,” Natasha drawled over the quinjet’s comm.  

Everyone buckled in for the landing as Clint secured Katniss into the seat beside him, glancing over at Barnes and noticing the man’s intense stare raking over Katniss’ slumped body.  Clint met the sergeant’s eyes causing the man to look away quickly before strapping himself in waiting to touch down on the helicarrier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments or Kudos!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!
> 
> All mistakes are my own and I do not own these characters.

Katniss’ eyelids felt heavy as they tried to flicker open making her wince at the bright light above her.  Silence stretched around her, nothing but a rhythmic beep sounding to the side.  Katniss’s eyes adjusted to the light as she took in three plain white walls and one completely glass wall showing people in long white coats on the other side.  The short, dark haired man from the aircraft was one of them, his brown gaze meeting hers through the glass.  Katniss watched, warily as he made his way over to her room, the door letting out a soft hiss as it opened.  Dr. Banner, she remembered, checked the beeping machine and the IV drip attached to her arm before turning warm brown eyes on her.  Katniss followed the IV in her arm only to notice the handcuffs chaining her to the bed.  Her eyes widened as she looked up and met Dr. Banner’s apologetic frown.

“I’m sorry for that,” he winced, indicating to her shackled wrists.

“How are you feeling?  I gave you a saline solution, you’re pretty dehydrated,” Dr. Banner explained as he waited for her to answer.

Katniss wanted out.  Her skin was crawling with the desire to run, fight her way out, to get away from these people as fast as she could.  

“Where am I?” Katniss’ voice croaked out, dry from the lack of saliva.

“You’re on SHIELD’s helicarrier,”Banner spoke soothingly, unknowingly raising Katniss’ hackles.

“I don’t want to be here,” she whispered hoarsely, “let me out.”

Dr. Banner shook his head, reaching out to calm her.  Katniss snapped, arms trying to flail as the handcuffs rattled against the bars of the bed.  Distantly she heard Dr. Banner call for a sedative, she increased her struggles, she would not be put to sleep again.  She felt something slick around her wrists as she looked down and saw red.  The cuffs were biting into her hands causing blood to ooze out and grease her hands, making the cuffs slip further.  Katniss looked up seeing medical personnel rush into the room as she braced herself and ripped her hands through the cuffs, blood spurting out, staining the white room.  Katniss grabbed the needle coming at her, jamming it into the person on the other end before shoving them out of the way.  She launched herself towards the door as Dr. Banner called for assistance, the man was slightly green around his mouth and eyes.  She skidded into the hallway, Captain Rogers was there along with the woman, Natasha.  Katniss dodged as they both reached for her, Rogers’ hand coming away red with her blood.  She barely made it halfway down the hallway before thick arms clamped around her like a vice.  Katniss kicked back hearing a grunt from her captor but the man’s hold did not lessen.

“Katniss, easy breathe,” Clint’s voice broke through the fog of fear, his blue eyes staring intently at her, hands raised in a placating gesture.

Katniss focused on Clint, the choking fear easing as she looked into his concerned eyes.  Her skin began to prickle as her sense came back to life, no longer overcome with the need to escape.  The arms binding her were rubbing soothingly up and down, grounding her in the present.

“In and out,” Rogers’ smooth voice sounded behind her, his hands catching her as she sagged back against him.

“Please tell me you have somewhere that isn’t so…” Katniss’ hands flailed trying to make Clint and Rogers understand she couldn’t go back to that medical room.

“We can go to the gym,” Clint suggested, glancing at Rogers.

“There’s first aid kits there that should be able to patch you up,” Rogers nodded as he and Clint steered her in the direction she assumed the gym was.

“What’s a gym?” Katniss asked after a few tense moments.

“It’s a place where people go to exercise or practice a physical skill,” Rogers answered after a startled pause.

“Like a training facility?” Katniss asked, looking over her shoulder at the Captain.

“Yes, Clint even has an archery range,” Rogers smile at her as they stopped in front of a door, Clint opening it.

Katniss looked around cautiously as they walked in.  The gym was similar to the training facility at the Capital, but it lacked the lethal and tyrannical edge which hovered in the air of the Capital’s facility.  The various machines around the room were bizarre, Katniss could not figure out what they were for but one had a padded bench which she went over and sat down on.  Clint sat down beside her as Rogers walked over and grabbed a white box off the wall.  The Captain crouched down in front of her, placing the open box on the ground and handing Clint some cloth and a bottle of liquid before taking some himself.  They both wet the cloths and took one of her hands, cleaning her arms of blood.  The liquid stung, but Katniss kept still, eyes fixed on Rogers’ bent blonde head.

“How’s James?” Katniss asked quietly, leaning back as Rogers’ head snapped up, blue eyes surprised.

Clint snorted to her side, head shaking in amusement.

“What?” She glared at the archer.

“He asked about you too,” the Captain spoke softly, “it’s actually the only thing he’s said.”

Katniss looked away from Rogers’ blue eyes, there were too many emotions trying to claw their way out.  Silence permeated the air once again as Clint and Rogers continued to clean her hands and wrists, finishing up quickly.  Both men were silent as they packed up the medkit before leveling stern blue eyes on her.

“You want to tell us what that was all about back there?” Clint began, arms folded across his chest.

“No,” Katniss responded in a clipped, dry tone.

“Katniss, you need to give us something if you don’t want to be confined to the bed in the medical wing or our containment wing,” Rogers explained, “we need to know you’re not a threat.”

“I’m not a threat,” Katniss whispered, hands clenched, “I’m not.”

“I just want my sister to be safe,” Katniss ground out, furious with what was going on.  She needed to get back home, who knows what was going on and what the cost was of her stunt.

****

Clint glanced surreptitiously at Cap, taking in the man’s taught jaw and compassionate blue eyes.  Clint knew he had an ally in regards to Katniss’ welfare even if the girl herself did not.  It was going to make things easier when he tried to convince Fury and Coulson to let her back to the tower with them.

“I just want Bucky to be safe too,” Steve murmured, drawing Clint’s attention back.

Katniss steadily regarded Steve, her face shuttered in the weighted silence.

“What happened to him?” She asked softly, face relaxing in the presence of Steve’s open honesty.

“He fell,” Steve began, voice wavering before gaining strength, “I thought he was dead.  Turns out the enemy we were fighting, Hydra, they got a hold of him, brainwashed him, made him a weapon, made him forget everything but their mission,” Made him forget me. Clint heard the unspoken words from Steve’s mouth and noticed Katniss seemed to as well.  

The girl was smoothing the wrappings on her wrist before she quickly took Cap’s hand and gave it a squeeze, shyly letting go.

“What happened to your sister?” Cap asked, a small trusting smile gracing his face.

“Nothing, she just isn’t safe,” Katniss bit out, anger making her voice tremble.

“Why isn’t she safe?” Clint spoke up, he wanted answers, anything that would help them understand.

“Because of me,” Katniss choked out, fists clenching making Clint reach for her, enclosing his own rough hands around her fists.

“I’m sure it’s not your fault,” Steve soothed, reaching out to cover Clint’s and Katniss’ hands with his own.

“That’s nice, but it really is,” Katniss snorted, still staring at their hands.

Clint arched an eyebrow at the girl’s vehemence, glancing over to see Cap with the same expression.

“I put a target on everyone I care about,” Katniss slumped forward, shoulders drooping her anger seeming to drain away replaced by guilt.

“What happened?” Clint pressed, hoping the fight drained out of her enough.

“I made our government look like fools.  I didn’t play their game,” Katniss spat out, grey eyes flashing with fury.

Clint looked at Steve whose blue eyes were wide in shock, clearly not expecting her response.  If he was honest, Clint wasn’t either.

“What kind of game?” Steve asked, a cautious edge to his voice.

“The Hunger Games.  It’s a last kid standing wins sort of game,” Katniss uttered, her eyes cast far away and haunted.

“Wins what?” Clint asked, growing more disturbed by Katniss’ cryptic answers and body language.

“Eternal glory, respect, money, enough food for our District for the year,” Katniss spoke, voice tight and grey eyes flashing.

“Katniss,” Steve spoke softly, the girl’s eyes raising to meet the Captain’s, “how do you win?”

“There are no winners, just survivors,” Katniss’ dead tone and blank face shook Clint to his core.  

This was how she learned to kill.  Her father may have taught her how to use a bow, but these games taught her how to take a life.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments or Kudos!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments or kudos!


End file.
